LTE in the 2300MHz band (2300-2400MHz)

Enabling Europes Radio Spectrum Policy Programme with the 2300MHz band for LTE.

June 2012

LTE in the 2300MHz band (2300-2400MHz)

Enabling Europes Radio Spectrum Policy Programme with the 2300MHz band for LTE.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................................................................................1 THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL SPECTRUM.........................................................................................................................2 GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM FOR 2300MHz BAND...................................................................................................................3 The LTE-TDD Ecosystem.........................................................................................................................................................3 Spectrum Availability and Operator Rollouts Globally...................................................................................3 Devices Availability...................................................................................................................................................................5 EU SPECTRUM HARMONISATION..........................................................................................................................................6 The Importance of EU Spectrum Harmonisation................................................................................................6 3GPP.....................................................................................................................................................................................................6 ITU-R....................................................................................................................................................................................................6 APT........................................................................................................................................................................................................7 ETSI........................................................................................................................................................................................................7 CEPT / ECC........................................................................................................................................................................................7 ACCELERATING SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY......................................................................................................................9 The Role of Traditional Auctions....................................................................................................................................9 Innovative Licensed Shared Access for the 2300MHz Band..................................................................... 10 HUAWEI SOLUTION FOR THE 2300MHz BAND......................................................................................................... 12 Huawei E2E Solution............................................................................................................................................................. 12 Huawei LTE-TDD 2300MHz Rollouts.......................................................................................................................... 14 Considerations for Spectrum Engineering Aspects........................................................................................ 15 ANNEX.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................................................................. 17 GLOSSARY........................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Executive Summary
The growth in mobile data traffic is a well-documented phenomenon which calls for innovative solutions and decision-making. The European Union Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP) targets, amongst other important matters, 1200MHz of spectrum which is available for mobile broadband from 2015. Huawei greatly welcomes this initiative as Europe needs common policy and common objectives for spectrum harmonisation and planning in the longer term. Indeed, the 100MHz portion of available spectrum in the 2300-2400MHz band (the 2300MHz band hereafter) may play a key role in helping to meet the EUs Digital Agenda for Europe and RSPP objectives. This represents the largest near-term opportunity for new LTE spectrum across Europe. The 2300MHz band has already been defined as a 3GPP eUTRAN band (band 40) based on a Time Division Duplex (TDD) scheme. First significant rollouts have already started in India (Bharti Airtel operator) and in Saudi Arabia (STC operator), with several others following by 2013. According to the Global Suppliers Association (GSA), 43 commercial devices supporting the 2300MHz band are now available on the market, including multi-band and multi-frequency Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), dongles and portable hotspots, while tablets and smartphones will be commercially available by the end of 2012. Even the early European adopters will be able to rely on the economies of scale that are now being established in other regions thanks to the global identification of the 2300MHz band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) for the IMT family of technologies. Huawei encourages national regulators to define in 2012 a clear schedule for the release of this frequency band, as well as the adoption at the ECC level of appropriate deliverables to eventually harmonise the 2300MHz band for mobile broadband usage. Huawei encourages a Decision from the European Unions Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) to facilitate the harmonisation of the technical usage rights of this band throughout EU Member States during 2013. Given the fact that the ITU-R identification does not preclude administrations from permitting deployment of other radio-communication services within this band, it is foreseen that some of the incumbent applications will remain in the field in some markets also over the longer term. Building on the fact that most of the incumbent users of the 2300MHz band in Europe are not constantly using this spectrum across all geographic regions and/or at all times (sub-optimal spectrum utilisation), Huawei supports the adoption of the Licensed Shared Access concept for this band granting opportunistic secondary usage of underutilised spectrum on a time, space or frequency basis, and enabling predictable Quality-of-Service (QoS) for both incumbent users and new LSA licensees. Huaweis end-to-end solutions have already been adopted by the major LTE 2300MHz rollouts around the globe. Based on the market requirements, specific solutions are being designed to fully exploit the potential of such LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) technology. Huawei is running two large-scale LTE-TDD trials in two major cities in China, involving hundreds of LTE base stations: these trials are open to operators visits in order to check the LTE-TDD performance and gain better understanding of the technical implications behind LTE-TDD rollouts in a realistic environment.

Note to readers: For any acronyms or terms not spelt out or explained in footnotes on first mention, please refer to the GLOSSARY on p18.

THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL SPECTRUM

Huaweis own predictions are fully in line with the on-going ITU-R traffic growth estimations. The ITU-R has finalised its update1 of the broadband traffic forecasts that were made in preparation of WRC-072. The data traffic volume reported for year 2010 was more than five times greater than some of the ITU-R estimates from 2006. Moreover, the actual traffic being experienced by some operators in 2011 is even greater than some of the 2020 ITU-R forecasts from 2006.

The Mobile Broadband Traffic Challenge.

In 2007, the ITU-R issued its predictions 3 on IMT spectrum requirements by the year 2020. These predictions need to be updated in line with the revised ITU-R traffic forecasts. Within the European Union, the recently approved Radio Spectrum Policy Programme has defined the objective of allocating 1200MHz to mobile broadband by 2015: Every effort should be made to identify at least 1200MHz of spectrum by 2015 at the latest. This figure includes spectrum already in use 4

Future spectrum requirements for IMT.

The 100MHz available in the 2300MHz band would provide a significant contribution to meeting the defined targets at both global and European level (please refer to the ANNEX on p17 for more details).
ITU-R Report M.2243 (November 2011). ITU-R Report M.2072 (2006). Report ITU-R M.2078 Estimated spectrum bandwidth requirements for the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced. 4 Decision No 243/2012/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council - March 14th 2012.
1 2 3

GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM FOR 2300MHz BAND

The LTE-TDD Ecosystem
LTE-TDD is now gaining market traction in all regions as it is commonly considered in the evolution path of any wireless cellular TDD technology (TD-SCDMA, UTRA-TDD and WiMAX). LTE-TDD is an integral part of the 3GPP standards, sharing significant common properties with LTE-FDD and offering comparable performance characteristics with similar high-spectral efficiency. Globally, 80 LTE networks were launched in 38 countries between December 2009 and June 2012 5. LTE-TDD is now entering maturity stage: 33 trial and 23 commercial LTE-TDD networks launched in Brazil, India, Japan, Poland, the Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia by April 2012; and several new rollouts will take place in 2012 also involving the USA and all the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). All major network equipment manufacturers stressed the importance of LTE-TDD and have already launched their LTE-TDD solutions. LTE-TDD will reach economies of scale comparable with LTE-FDD in the longer term 6. With its large spectrum availability (up to 100MHz in the lowest available TDD band in Europe 7), the 2300MHz band will play a major role within the European TDD bands in the short term 8. Growing support from global industry for the 2300MHz band is increasingly evident; in March DIGITALEUROPE clearly stated its position in favour of rapid availability of 2300MHz harmonised spectrum across Europe 9. From an early stage, the European 2300MHz market will be able to leverage economies of scale from global TDD consolidation, enabled by the ITU-R global allocation, and by the growing availability of spectrum, as well as the arrival of suitable end-user devices.

Spectrum Availability and Operator Rollouts Globally

As will be described in more detail in the EU HARMONISATION section on p 6, ITU-R WRC-07 identified the 2300MHz band as suitable for IMT applications globally. Around 60 countries worldwide have either assigned the 2300MHz band to mobile operators to deliver broadband wireless access services or have announced their intention to do so within the next two years.

Countries that have assigned 2300MHz spectrum to wireless broadband operators or that have expressed intention to do so in the next 1-3 years.

GSA Evolution to LTE Report- June 2012 - http://www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/info_papers.php4.). Additional information available in June 2012 report from Ovum LTE TDD goes main stream- http://www.itp.net/589543-lte-tdd-to-make-up-25-of-all-lte-by-2016. Not considering the 2GHz lower and upper TDD bands (19001920 MHz and 20102025 MHz) which are being discussed at European level; not considering the 3GPP band 43 which will not be widely available in the short/medium term. 8 In addition to the 3GPP Band 38: 2570-2620 MHz (TDD); 3GPP Band 42 3400-3600 MHz (TDD/FDD). 9 DIGITALEUROPE Call For Timely Harmonization of the 1452-1492 MHz and 2300-2400 MHz bands to support delivery of the EU Radio Spectrum Policy Programme Objectives http://www.digitaleurope.org/Portals/0/Documents/TRPG/Spectrum/DIGITALEUROPE_Position_LBand_and_2300MHz_21-02-2012.pdf.
5 6 7

Most operators own more than 20MHz in the 2300MHz band:

2300MHz band assignments magnitude globally

The following diagram provides information on allocations and assignments among key 2300MHz markets.

Global Magnitude of 2300MHz Band Assignments.

Australia: In order to gain access to the 2300MHz spectrum, Australian operator Optus is soon expected to complete its acquisition of another Australian operator, Vividwireless. Once confirmed by local regulatory authorities, Optus will be able to rely on almost all the 98MHz portion of spectrum in the Australian 2300MHz band. China: The 2300MHz band is allocated to the Ministry of Information Technology (IMT) in China. China Mobile owns 50MHz in the 2300MHz band which can be used for indoor services at this time (the band is currently used by radiolocation services). China Mobile, having identified LTE-TDD technology as the long-term evolution of TD-SCDMA, is expected to increase investments in the near future. Additionally China Mobile is currently undertaking a large-scale LTE-TDD trial involving the 1900MHz, the 2300MHz and the 2600MHz TDD bands. Some 1000 eNBs have been rolled out in six cities in the first phase (Proof of Concept, completed in September 2011), 20,000 base stations and multimode user equipment tests are being performed in the second phase (R&D technical experiment and scaled trial) which will expand to nine cities and will end by December 2012. China Mobile plans to gradually upgrade 200,000 TD-SCDMA base stations to LTE-TDD by 2013. India: In June 2010, each of six operators acquired one 20MHz license, with different geographic extensions 10, at a total cost of $US5.2 billion. Reliance Industries is the only operator with pan-Indian coverage while Bharti Airtel was the first operator to launch LTETDD commercial services in India in April 2012, starting with Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. Bharti Airtel has recently signed an agreement for the acquisition of Qualcomm APs BWA spectrum by 2014 11.

10

11

Aircel (8 Circles), Augere (1 Circle), Bharti Airtel (4 Circles), Qualcomm & Bhart Airtel (4 important Circles: Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala), Reliance Industries (all the 22 Circles, Tikona (5 Circles). http://www.qualcomm.com/media/releases/2012/05/24/bharti-and-qualcomm-announce-partnership-4g.

Saudi Arabia: STC 12 commercially launched its LTE-TDD service in September 2011. This is the biggest LTE-TDD 2300MHz network in the Middle East. By May 2012, STC had already upgraded 1500 base stations serving 38 cities and is targeting 65% population coverage by end-2012. In parallel, competitor Mobily has also launched its 2600MHz LTE-TDD network. Denmark: In May 2011, a public consultation document entitled A strategy to find an extra 600MHz for broadband 13 by the Danish regulator NTIA proposed the availability of the 2300MHz spectrum band by 2015. Ireland: In October 2009 ComReg carried out a public consultation on Release of Spectrum in the 2300-2400MHz band14. In its April 2011 consultation, Review of the Period 2008 2010 & Proposed Strategy for Managing the Radio Spectrum: 2011 201315 ComReg recognised the great potential [of the 2300MHz band] to enhance competition and capacity for mobile broadband within Ireland, once the ECC harmonisation work has been completed. According to the recently closed public consultation on its Draft Strategy Statement 2012 201416, ComReg will develop a new consultation on a future release of the 2.3GHz band which will also include economic analysis of the type of competitive award, fees and license conditions. Sweden: PTS, the Swedish regulator, is considering the 2300MHz band in its roadmap for the release of more than 500MHz new spectrum in Sweden. PTS has been planning to release 2300MHz band for some time. Depending on market demand, spectrum could be auctioned starting from 2013. A first public consultation17 regarding planned radio use in the 2.3GHz band was held in November 2010. A more recent consultation18 addressing technical issues related to the 2300MHz band (e.g. coexistence matters, band plan, etc.) was closed in February 2012. UK: The 2300MHz band (2310-2390 MHz) is considered as a prioritised band for release in the spectrum strategy document19 issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in March 2011, which sets the target of releasing 500MHz below 5GHz from the public sector by 2020.

Devices Availability
A total of 43 LTE-TDD-2300MHz compatible devices were commercially available in April 201220. Considerable economies of scale will be reached by the end of 2012.

Commercial availability of LTE devices (source: GSA).

Multi-band, multi-mode LTE-TDD dongles and CPEs are commercially available from all major chipset and device manufacturers, including the 2300MHz band (3GPP band 40), 2600-TDD (3GPP band 38), as well as the major LTE-FDD, UMTS and GSM bands. Smartphones and tablets with similar characteristics will be commercially available by the end of 2012. Huawei is confident that some outstanding technical issues, such as seamless handover between FDD and TDD frequencies, will be addressed in the coming months and that terminals will allow global roaming as well as a single, seamless FDD and TDD ecosystem in the near future.

Major operator in the Middle East with 42.8% mobile market penetration and 99% fixed market penetration in Saudi Arabia. https://www.borger.dk/Lovgivning/Hoeringsportalen/Sider/Fakta.aspx?hpid=2146002605. http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0976s.pdf. 15 http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg1128.pdf. 16 http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg1237.pdf. 17 http://www.pts.se/en-gb/Documents/Consultations/200/Public-consultation-regarding-planned-radio-use-in-the-23-GHz-band/. 18 http://www.pts.se/en-gb/Documents/Consultations/2012/1Consultation-regarding-planned-radio-use-in-the-23-GHz-band/. 19 http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/Spectrum_Release.pdf. 20 GSA Report Status of the LTE Ecosystem - April, 2012 - http://www.gsacom.com/gsm_3g/info_papers.php4.
12 13 14

EU SPECTRUM HARMONISATION
The Importance of EU Spectrum Harmonisation
Harmonised spectrum is necessary to ensure sustainable public mobile broadband services and meet national policy goals. Spectrum harmonisation can ensure: Economies of scale for standardised products, Smoother cross-border coordination, Roaming capabilities within the region where harmonisation is implemented. More generally, regulatory certainty is key for the development of innovative and competitive services across Europe as it facilitates the development of a healthy and innovative ecosystem. Regarding the 2300MHz band, while the TDD frequency arrangement has already been identified by 3GPP for band 40, European regulators still need to carry out some work on the frequency arrangement, coexistence issues and cross-border coordination.

3GPP
The 2300MHz band is already specified as a 3GPP band for both TD-SCDMA and LTE-TDD since LTE Release 8 21.

3GPP E-UTRA frequency bands - TS 36.104 v8.1.0 (2008-03).

Intra-band Carrier Aggregation (CA) within the 2300MHz was already specified in 3GPP Rel. 10, while inter-band CA involving the 2300MHz band has not been specified at this time.

ITU-R
ITU-R WRC-07 identified the 2300MHz band as suitable for the IMT family of technologies in all three ITU-R regions while, according to footnote 5.384A 22, this allocation does not preclude administrations from permitting deployment of other radiocommunication services within this band.

ITU-R allocations in 2300-2400 MHz (WRC-07).

The ITU-R recommends 23 the un-paired frequency arrangements for implementation of IMT in the 2300MHz band.

ITU-R preferred frequency arrangement (M. 1036-01 Annex 4).

3GPP TS 36.104 V8.1.0 (2008-03). The provision 5.384A of Radio Regulation states: The bands, or portions of the bands, 1710-1885MHz, 2300-2400MHz and 2500-2690MHz, are identified for use by administrations wishing to implement IMT in accordance with Resolution 223 (Rev.WRC 07). This identification does not preclude the use of these bands by any application of the services to which they are allocated and does not establish priority in the Radio Regulations (WRC 07). 23 Recommendation ITU-R M.1036.
21 22

A second option was initially considered in 2010 allowing flexible FDD/TDD mode which did not specify clear arrangements for duplex mode, mobile station transmitter band, base-station transmitter band, centre gap and duplex separation. The option was then excluded in March 2011 24.

APT
The 2300MHz band harmonisation work has already started in APT/AWG. The following is a summary of the APT regional view on the frequency arrangement in the 2300MHz band based on feedback received from APT member countries to the AWG questionnaire on this band 25. Full TDD arrangement is preferred, but flexible FDD/TDD arrangement is also considered for administrations that are required to meet local conditions, 10MHz or wider/narrower guard band to 2.4GHz ISM band is considered.

APT preferred and alternative frequency arrangements.

ETSI
ETSIs activity to develop a harmonised European framework for 2300MHz band started in 2010. Its Technical Committee for Electromagnetic Compatibility and Radio Spectrum Matters (ETSI TC ERM) issued a System Reference Document (SRdoc), entitled Broadband Wireless Systems in the 2300MHz to 2400MHz Range, in August 2010 26. The Technical Report informed the work of the ECC, providing guidance on the following matters: Band arrangements including channelization, Operator block sizes, Any inter-service spectrum management measures, Any inter-operator spectrum management measures. The more recent work from ETSIs Technical Committee on Reconfigurable Radio Systems (ETSI TC RRS) is described in the ACCELERATING SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY section on p9.

CEPT / ECC
ITU-R allocations and identification for the 2300MHz band are reflected in the European Common Allocation table 27 entry reported below:

The 2300MHz within the European Common Allocation Table.

Excluded from the end Revision of Recommendation ITU-R M.1036-3. APT report on APT Frequency Arrangement on 2300-2400MHz for IMT/BWA - No. APR/AWF/REP.12 - Edition: April 2010. ETSI TR 102 837 V1.1.1 (2010-08). 27 ERC Report 025 - http://www.erodocdb.dk/Docs/doc98/official/pdf/ERCREP025.PDF.
24 25 26

Since 2010, important work has been carried out in CEPT to solve pending issues along a path towards full harmonisation of the 2300MHz band for the European market.

ECC WG SE The ETSI Systems Reference Document from August 2010 prompted the ECC efforts (WG SE Project Team SE7) towards greater compatibility of broadband wireless services, including mobile broadband, with existing services in the 2300MHz band and in adjacent bands. The ECC Report 172 Broadband Wireless Systems for 2300-2400MHz 28 was approved in March 2012 covering: Compatibility between BWS and existing services (in-band and out-of band), Compatibility between adjacent BWS operators, Cross-border coordination measures. For in-band compatibility, the Report reaches the conclusion that large separation distances will be required for BWS co-channel operation with telemetry systems and unmanned aviation (UAV), and that such distances are not feasible where BWS and these applications are co-located. Co-channel operation may be facilitated if simultaneous operation of BWS and telemetry/UAV can be avoided. In terms of adjacent band compatibility, the Report states that adjacent services may be protected with appropriate mitigation techniques which may include frequency separation, separation distance, additional filtering, and site engineering to protect existing services and systems. A brief summary is provided in the diagram below.

Summary of ECC Report 172 conclusions.

SE7 is also developing appropriate measures to assist administrations in border coordination.

28

http://www.erodocdb.dk/Docs/doc98/official/pdf/ECCREP172.PDF.

ECC WG FM ECC WG FM has recently shared the results from a questionnaire 29 to the European administrations in order to better assess current national utilisations and plans before proceeding with the definition for the future 2300MHz framework. The questionnaire has received a lot of attention, the summary from WG FM on the 40 responses received is reported below. Current utilisation: 27 countries currently use all or parts of the band for PMSE applications (PMSE includes SAP/SAB and ENG/OB as defined in ECC Report 002, the answers also include mention of cordless cameras, video links etc.). Other considerable usage amongst countries in this band (indicated for at least five countries): amateur services, aeronautical telemetry (ERC REC 62-02), governmental use (incl. military), mobile applications (wireless access, IMT), fixed links. Future plans: 17 countries stated their plan to allow use of all or part of the frequency band by IMT, BWA, BWS, mobile applications, or to introduce the concept of technology and service neutrality. While 12 countries stated that they have no plan to change current utilisation (referring to PMSE and other incumbent applications). One country stated that other applications such as mobile broadband could possibly be introduced on a geographically coordinated basis. Some additional countries (five counted in addition to the 17 mentioned before) indicated that they might support an EC/ECC harmonisation measure for this band, without specifying a preferred or planned radio application if this were carried out. Two countries mentioned MBANS under future plans for this band. As a consequence of the interest shown by the majority of the administrations, Huawei welcomes the ECC WG FM decision to setup a dedicated Project Team from September 2012 to work on 2300MHz band harmonisation. The coexistence with the continued operation of some incumbent users of the 2300MHz band will be specifically addressed also with the exploitation of an appropriate regulatory framework which could involve the Licensed Shared Access approach see the ACCELERATING SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY section on p10 for more details. Huawei encourages national regulators to define in 2012 a clear schedule for the release of this frequency band, as well as the adoption at the ECC level of appropriate deliverables to eventually harmonise the 2300MHz band for mobile broadband usage. Huawei encourages a Decision from the European Unions Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) to facilitate the harmonisation of the technical usage rights of this band throughout EU Member States during 2013.

ACCELERATING SPECTRUM AVAILABILITY

The Role of Traditional Auctions
Huawei believes that the consolidated individual assignment of spectrum usage rights, as defined within the European Regulatory Framework 30, should remain the preferred spectrum management approach for the longer term. Such assignment procedures can provide full guarantees to individual license holders of spectrum resources, thus facilitating the management of coexistence and enabling investment decisions in a fully predictable environment. It is expected that some countries will be able to carry out traditional auctions for the 2300MHz band when making these frequencies available to mobile broadband operators. For example, current utilisation of this frequency band in Sweden may allow the setup of a traditional auction in the near future. Nevertheless, it is now evident that the growing utilisation of the frequencies below 6GHz may not always allow the full availability of a new frequency band for LTE in the future. In such cases it may be reasonable to employ more dynamic approaches to spectrum management.

Harmonisation in any given frequency band has so far been combined with the refarming and the clearing of that band from legacy services and users and the subsequent exclusive allocation of the band to another use e.g. mobile services/networks. When full clearing the spectrum is not possible the complementary Licensed Shared Access (LSA) regulatory approach may be an alternative solution to access new frequency bands including the 2300 MHz band.

29 30

http://www.cept.org/ecc/tools-and-services/ecc-questionnaires/list-of-finalised-questionnaires-2010-2011. Directive 2002/20/EC on the Authorisation of Electronic Communications Networks and Services (Authorisation Directive) - March 2002; as amended by Directive 2009/140/EC November 2009.

Innovative Licensed Shared Access for the 2300MHz Band

As previously described, both the ITU-R WRC-07 decisions and the European Common Allocation table identified the 2300MHz band as suitable for inclusion within the IMT family of technologies, while not precluding administrations from permitting deployment of other radio-communication services within this band. The 2300MHz range has been allocated to fixed, mobile, radiolocation and amateur services (the first two on a primary basis with the second two on a secondary basis). In many cases, depending on national circumstances, these applications may not use the entire band in all locations or at all times. It is also understood that not all of the incumbent services (aeronautical telemetry, ENG/ OB, fixed links, wireless cameras, PPDR) will be re-farmed to other frequencies in the foreseeable future: some of them in some markets will have to remain over the longer term. There is a need therefore to define ways to allow smooth and permanent coexistence between mobile services and these incumbent services. Many approaches may be adopted including the definition of separation distances or restricted sub-bands with more stringent BEM requirements. The application of cognitive radio technologies within the context of individual licensing also represents a viable option. Licensed Shared Access (LSA) Within the wider debate on the adoption of dynamic spectrum management techniques, the definition of the specific LSA approach has gained interest at the European regulators level: the European Commission, the RSPG, the CEPT and ETSI have already started to address LSA. LSA was initially proposed by an industry consortium 31 in response to the RSPG consultation on Cognitive Radio Technologies in January 2011. The first definition of LSA was provided by the RSPG in its November 2011 Report on Collective Use of Spectrum (CUS) and Other Spectrum Sharing Approaches 32, It stated: An individual licensed regime of a limited number of licensees in a frequency band, already allocated to one or more incumbent users, for which the additional users are allowed to use the spectrum (or part of the spectrum) in accordance with sharing rules included in the rights of use of spectrum granted to the licensees, thereby allowing all the licensees to provide a certain level of QoS. LSA could act as a regulatory enabler to make additional harmonised spectrum available for mobile broadband with predictable QoS guarantees. LSA may be capable of overcoming the time, resource and political constraints associated with band clearing, while at the same time, recognising the legitimate need for the long-term operations of incumbent users in certain bands. The LSA is a framework to share spectrum between a limited numbers of users. Under this concept, the existing spectrum user(s) (the incumbent(s)) would share spectrum with one or several licensed LSA users (LSA licensee(s)) in accordance with a set of pre-defined conditions. These conditions may be static (e.g. specific exclusion zone or time allowed for operation) or more dynamic (e.g. geographic/time sharing, on-demand authorisation by LSA licenseesor on-demand restrictions imposed by incumbents).Dynamic implementation of LSA could take advantage of the recent advances in cognitive technology, allowing spectrum sharing on a frequency-, location- and time-sharing basis.However, in the case of the incumbent(s) imposing restrictions, a system for updating, maintaining and providing the access conditionswould first need to be established. A key feature of LSA is to ensure a predictable quality of service for all spectrum rights holders, network operators and for consumers.

The Licensed Shared Access concept.

31 32

http://rspg.groups.eu.int/consultations/consultation_cognitiv_2010/qualcomm_nokia_0114.pdf. http://rspg.ec.europa.eu/_documents/documents/meeting/rspg26/rspg11_392_report_CUS_other_approaches_final.pdf.

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ECC WG FM work on the application of the LSA concept to the 2300MHz band After finalising its report on LSA (ASA at that time) 33 and based on the questionnaire 34 to the European administrations to better assess current national utilisations and future plans for the 2300MHz band, the WG FM has recently decided to set up a Project Team that will work on the 2300MHz harmonisation, while also considering the adoption of the LSA concept to protect incumbent services. The exact Term of References for this Project Team are now being discussed. ETSI work on the application of the LSA concept to the 2300MHz band Recent work in May 2012 from ETSI Technical Committee on Reconfigurable Radio Systems (ETSI TC RRS) approved a new work item: Mobile broadband services in the 2300-2400MHz frequency band under Licensed Shared Access regime. This work item will develop a System Reference Document for mobile broadband services in the 2300MHz band under an LSA regime. The objective of the work item is to enable access to this band for mobile broadband services in those CEPT countries where access to the band is complex due to the incumbent uses. The system reference document will outline: Expected usage scenarios, Technical characteristics and parameters necessary to describe the spectrum needs and performance requirements for the deployment of mobile broadband services under the LSA regime, while meeting the constraints of mutual coexistence between mobile broadband services and incumbent users based on already existing/further CEPT spectrum sharing and compatibility studies, The high-level functions required to manage/comply with the requirements for the deployment of mobile broadband services under the LSA regime. This System Reference Document is expected to be completed by February 2013, ETSI TC RRS is also expected to undertake further standardisation work on LSA, such as system architecture, protocols and technical specifications.

33 34

http://www.cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/wg-fm/cg-crs. http://www.cept.org/ecc/tools-and-services/ecc-questionnaires/list-of-finalised-questionnaires-2010-2011.

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HUAWEI SOLUTION FOR THE 2300MHz BAND

Huawei E2E Solution
Huaweis end-to-end (E2E) capability includes all the network nodes as well the different types of end-user equipment. Huaweis E2E solution will gradually adopt technical solutions such as Beamforming, CoMP and eMBMS which can help exploit TDD and provide higher spectral efficiency. Exploiting TDD channel reciprocity for highest spectral efficiency Thanks to uplink and downlink channel reciprocity (ensured by the fact that the same portion of spectrum is used in both link directions), TDD technology has unique coordination abilities, such as Beamforming; a multi-antenna technique improving system performance by utilising channel-state information to achieve transmit-array gain. Many chipsets, such as the HiSilicon Balong series, already support Beamforming. Results from Huawei show that, across the 3GPP standard in Release 8~10, Single Layer, Dual-Layer and Multi-user Beamforming can generate cell throughput gain of 15%, 15% and 10% respectively. Adoption of Beamforming and Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP) called Co-ordinated Beamforming (CBF) can further enhance network performance because interference is mitigated between inter-eNodeBs. Exploiting TDD uplink to downlink ratio flexibility TDDs flexible and configurable uplink to downlink ratio allows it to adapt to the variable uplink/downlink traffic asymmetries (video downloads may represent a considerable share in the overall traffic across a certain network leading to 1:4 to 1:6 uplink to downlink asymmetry). For Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services, the UL/DL configuration flexibility can better fulfil these kinds of heavy downlink video applications to off-load traffic and provide creative triple play or quadruple play bundling services. The industry is now working on more LTE-A features such as Carrier Aggregation which was demonstrated to reach a single user throughput of up to 520Mbps 35. Huaweis approach to HetNet and Hotspots The considerable amount of available spectrum (up to 100MHz) allows 2300MHz to become an important capacity band for LTE. Even if multi-carrier Macro-sites will suffice for most areas in a network, there might be pockets of dense traffic or poor coverage which might require an additional layer of Small Cell coverage (micro-, pico-, femto-,).

LTE TDD ability to support asymmetric traffic.

Huaweis HetNet to address hotspots and coverage holes.

35

http://www.wireless-mag.com/News/20822/Huawei_showcases_4x4_MIMO_carrier_aggregation_solution_for_TDD-LTE_.aspx.

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The Macro-layer will provide common coverage for most end user services while the Small Cell layer will provide precision coverage for coverage for holes and hotspots. Although localised coverage is not a new concept, the lack of mobility and resource coordination between Macro- and Small Cell layers may lead to significantly lower gains from the added Small Cell layer. Huaweis HetNet solutions allow coordination between the scalable Small Cell layer and the Macro-Cell layer enabling operators to increase the available capacity and optimise the spectrum utilisation. Huaweis HetNet solutions provide Macro- and Small Cell collaboration. This means different layers can share the same frequencies36 to enable load sharing, coverage/service/speed/load handover collaboration between layers. Carrier Aggregation The Carrier Aggregation (CA) feature has been defined starting from LTE-A 3GPP Rel.10 in order to allow wider than 20MHz channels bandwidths through the aggregation of contiguous and non-contiguous component carriers from the same band (intra-band CA) or from different bands (inter-band CA). Intra-band CA within the 2300MHz was already specified within 3GPP Rel. 10, while inter-band CA involving the 2300MHz band has not been specified at this time. The following diagram shows two examples of CA involving the 2300MHz band. The aggregation of carriers from the 2300MHz and the 2600MHz TDD bands seams particularly interesting also from the 2600MHz band perspective where rather small portions of spectrum (i.e. smaller than 20MHz) have been assigned in some cases.

Two examples of 2300MHz Carrier Aggregation for LTE Rel. 11 / 12.

Huawei End-user Devices In September 2011, the E392-92 USB dongle from Huawei became commercially available supporting: LTE-TDD: 2300/2600MHz; DC-HSPA+/UMTS: 900/2100MHz; GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz. On November 2011, the first LTE-TDD/WCDMA multi-mode Mobile WiFi device (E589u) was launched for: LTE-TDD: 2300/2600MHz; DC-HSPA+/UMTS: 900/2100MHz; WiFi. Before the end of this year Huawei will launch its multi-band and multi-mode LTE-TDD smartphone as well as various other versions of indoor and outdoor CPEs, dongles, MiFi, etc.

B593s-82 Indoor CPE LTE-TDD: 2300/2600 MHz.

B222s-40 Outdoor CPE LTE-TDD: 2300 MHz.

E392-92 USB dongle LTE TDD: 2300/2600 MHz HSPA+UMTS: 900/2100 MHz GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz.

E589u MiFi device LTE TDD: 2300/2600 MHz HSPA+UMTS: 900/2100 MHz GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Multi-band, multi-mode smartphone.

Huawei 2300MHz band device portfolio (June 12).

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3GPP Release 8/9 Inter Cell Interference Coordination features requires specific enhancements in order to deal with cross-layer interference control.

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Huawei LTE-TDD 2300MHz Rollouts

Huawei has played a significant role in the promotion of the LTE-TDD in the 2300MHz band globally: ten WiMAX contracts were signed between Q4 2007 and Q4 2010, eleven LTE-TDD contracts have been signed more recently including four migration projects from WiMAX to LTE-TDD. Among others, Bharti Airtel and STC commercial contracts have already translated into two major LTE-TDD commercial rollouts in India and Saudi Arabia respectively. Bharti Airtel - India Bharti Airtel was the first operator to launch LTE-TDD commercial services in India in April 2012 starting from the areas of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. About 1500 eNBs have been rolled out at this point while the target is to increase the number of base stations to 20,000 in the next five years. MIMO2x2, MIMO4x4 and Beamforming have been utilised, while specific filters have been added to the RRUs to ensure smooth coexistence. The LTE 2300MHz solution has been consistently integrated with WiFi Carrier class solution. The E2E solution leveraged on Huawei multi-band and multi-mode CPEs and USB dongle devices (CPE: B593, USB: E392). STC - Saudi Arabia STC operator 37 commercially launched its LTE-TDD service in September 2011: the biggest LTE-TDD 2300MHz network in the Middle East using 52MHz of spectrum. Already by May 2012, STC had upgraded 1500 base stations serving 38 cities and is targeting 65% population coverage by end-2012 STC sites are enabled with Huawei SingleRAN base stations which support GSM900, GSM1800, UMTS2100 and LTE2300 in the same compact cabinet. LTE-TDD 2300MHz Large Scale Trials - China A large-scale LTE-TDD trial is taking place in cooperation with China Mobile and several other vendors involving both the 2300MHz and 2600MHz TDD bands, as well as the 1900MHz TD-SCDMA band. Some 1000 eNBs have been rolled out in six cities in the first phase (proof of concept, completed in September 2011), 20,000 base stations and multimode user equipment tests are being performed in the second phase (R&D technical experiment and scaled trial) which will expand to nine cities and will end by December 2012. China Mobile plans to gradually upgrade 200,000 TD-SCDMA base stations to LTE-TDD by 2013. 97 Macro sites (2600MHz) + 13 Indoor (2300MHz) were rolled out in Shenzhen since July 2011. The Largest TD-SCDMA/LTE-TDD dual-mode network in China,

Due to local regulatory constraints the 2300MHz 500 sites upgraded and ready for pre-commerciaband is utilised for indoor coverage only with the lisation by May 2012. adoption of Huawei Distributed Antenna System solution. Site distance: 300m~500m. Bandwidth: 20MHz. Antenna configuration: 8T8R.

Shenzhen downtown.

Hangzhou downtown.

37

A major operator in the Middle East with 42.8% mobile market penetration and 99% fixed market penetration in Saudi Arabia.

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Considerations for Spectrum Engineering Aspects

In light of the upcoming ECC work for the harmonization of the 2300MHz band for Europe, Huawei is sharing field experience and related general considerations on spectrum engineering. European preferred harmonized band plan and auctions design The European regulators working on the preferred harmonized band plan, the Least Restrictive Technical Conditions and on the subsequent national auctions design will have the opportunity to benefit from extensive field experiences from other areas in the world. The following text provides some indications based on Huawei current field experience: TDD-only should be considered, without mixing of FDD and TDD duplexing modes, 5MHz channel raster should be adopted, Auctions should target assignments of at least 20/30 MHz licenses at national level (depending on the specific national constraints and competition environment) to guarantee optimal utilization by each of the winning bidders, The national regulators auction guidelines should contain well defied spectrum caps defining the maximum (e.g. 50MHz) and minimum (e.g.20MHz) amount of spectrum that can be acquired by one operator as a result of the auction process, Nation-wide licences preferred.

Preferred Band Plan proposal and auction design considerations.

Interference mitigation Several interference cases may arise when rolling out an LTE-TDD network in the 2300MHz: Inter-operator interference between the LTE-TDD operators using adjacent channels (with different TDD uplink/downlink ratios) in the 2300MHz band, Intersystem interference with other services within the 2300MHz band, Intersystem interference with other services in the upper and lower adjacent bands. Various mitigations tools have been already implemented in existing rollouts in order to address each of the above interference situations: Mitigation option #1: Adoption of the same TDD uplink to downlink ratio and synchronisation (for the inter-operator interference case) Mitigation option #2: A combination of the following mitigation tools: Guard bands and/or restricted blocks Additional narrowband filter to be applied at eNB transmitter, Site coordination between operators: inter-site distance separation (for non-co-located sites) and antenna separation distances (for co-located sites), Reduction of the eNB output power.

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Interference mitigation tools.

To ensure the required coexistences, the overall mitigation solution will consist in a trade-off of the above techniques. The regulation should be designed in such a way that operators / parties will still maintain the possibility to negotiate the most suitable specific mitigation solution. Inter-operator interference mitigation (intra-band, intra-system): The reciprocal alignment of operators synchronizations, when feasible, is the most efficient solution as it does not require interoperator guard bands leading to optimal spectrum utilization 38. Adjacent band interference mitigation (inter-band, inter-system): Suitable mitigation solutions (including the introduction of a guard band / restricted block, separation distance, additional filtering, site engineering) can be defined to protect existing services and systems (space to earth services, telemetry, radio astronomy, defence systems, fixed service, RLANs) in the neighbouring bands. In line with ECC Report 172 conclusions, a 10 MHz guard band should be reserved to guarantee smooth coexistence with RLAN services in the neighbouring band above (2400-2483.5 MHz). Huawei has already rolled out commercial networks integrating LTE 2300 and WiFi, several scenarios have been addressed successfully including the Huawei TDFI solution where the LTE-TDD 2300 device receives the LTE-TDD signals from the Macro LTE-TDD network and then relays then towards the end users using WiFi. Various other mechanisms can significantly contribute to the overall solution including the possibility for WiFi, if experiencing high interference, to switch to a channel away from the most interfered channel, LTE-TDD 2300MHz + WiFi device may close its LTE session and re-establish its data session on WiFi, LTE-TDD + LTE-FDD + UMTS multi mode devices may perform an handover to LTEFDD (or UMTS) to further mitigate interference. In-band, inter-system interference mitigation: ECC Report 172 reaches the conclusions: the simultaneous operation in a co-channel and co-location configuration of BWS and systems other than Telemetry systems / UAV is feasible with manageable constraints. Simultaneous operation of the BWS in a cochannel configuration with Telemetry Systems / UAV is feasible only with large separation distances. These separation distances are not feasible in situations where BWS and Telemetry systems/UAV are co-located. Co-channel operation may be facilitated if simultaneous operation of BWS and telemetry / UAV can be avoided. In Huawei opinion, the Licensed Shared Access framework might represent to address the most challenging co-channel coexistence scenarios.

The eNB emission mask

Transmit power should be kept sufficiently high to allow economically sustainable rollouts, the following figures provide the appropriate trade off according to Huawei: EIRP limit out-of-band 0-5MHz: 4dBm/MHz EIRP limit out-of-band 5-10MHz: -20dBm/MHz EIRP limit out-of-band >10MHz: -35dBm/MHz EIRP limit in WiFi band: -55dBm/MHz

eNB emission limits.

The values above are valid for the recommended case of common synchronization between LTE-TDD operators, different limits will be required in the alternative case.
38

By synchronizing to a common time reference and using the same subframe configuration, different LTE-TDD operators operating in the same geographical area in neighboring frequencies can coexist with each other without guard bands. Existing synchronization methods (GNSS, IEEE 1588v2, air-interface synchronization etc.) can provide suitable performance in both outdoor and indoor deployment scenarios.

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ANNEX
The Radio Spectrum Policy Programme targets, amongst other important matters, 1200MHz of spectrum which is available for mobile broadband from 2015 (in total). Huawei greatly welcomes this initiative as Europe needs common policy and common objectives for spectrum harmonisation and planning in the longer term. Having analysed the different options, the table below provides a summary of the bands that Huawei considers should be first addressed. The table shows the important contribution that the 2300MHz band can bring.

New MBB bands for the medium term.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Huawei is grateful to the important work of the Global Suppliers Association, providing reliable and up-to-date information on the development of the LTE market. The GSA Evolution to LTE Report from June 2012 and the GSA Report Status of the LTE Ecosystem from April 2012 have been used as input to some parts of this paper.

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Glossary
3GPP 3rd Generation Partner Project ACIR Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio ACLR Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio ACS Adjacent Channel Selectivity AFH Adaptive Frequency Hopping ANR Automatic Neighbour Relation AP Access Point APAC Asia Pacific APT ASIA-PACIFIC TELECOMMUNITY AWF APT Wireless Forum AWG APT Wireless Group AS Amateur Service BBU Baseband Processing Unit BEM Block Edge Mask BS Base Station BW Bandwidth BWA Broadband Wireless Access BWS Broadband Wireless System CAPEX Capital Expenditure CDMA Code Division Multiple Access CEPT European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point CPE Customer Premises Equipment CR Cognitive Radio CRS Cognitive Radio System DEC Decision DL Downlink DRS Data Relay Service EC European Commission ECA European Common Allocation ECC Electronic Communications Committee ECS Electronic Communications Services EESS Earth Exploration Satellite Service EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power eMBMS evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services ENG/OB Electronic News Gathering and Outside Broadcasting ERC European Radio Committee ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute EU European Union eUTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access FCC Federal Communications Commission FDD Frequency Division Duplex FWA Fixed Wireless Access Gbps Gigabit per second GSA Global Suppliers Association GSM Global System for Mobile communications HetNet Heterogeneous Network HSPA High Speed Packet Access (HSDPA with HSUPA) ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination IMT International Mobile Telephony ISM Industrial Scientific Medical ITU International Telecommunication Union ITU-R International Telecomm. Union Radiocomm. Sector Kbps Kilobits per second LTE-A LTE Advanced

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MBB Mobile Broadband Mbps Megabit per second MCL Minimum Coupling Loss MFCN Mobile/Fixed Communications Networks MIMO Multiple Input / Multiple Output MLB Mobility Load Balancing MMDS Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service(s). ms millisecond MSR Multi Standard Radio MSS Mobile Satellite Services N/A Not Applicable N/A Not Available NTIA National Telecomm. Industry Administration OOB Out Of Band OoS Quality of Service LTE Long Term Evolution LTE-A LTE Advanced OPEX Operating Expenses OSS Operational Support System PMR Private Mobile radio RAN Radio Access Network RAS Radio Astronomy Service REC Recommendation Rel.X Release 99, Release 5, etc. of 3GPP Standards RF Radio Frequency RR Radio Regulation RRU Remote Radio Unit RSPG Radio Spectrum Policy Group RSPP Radio Spectrum Policy Programme RX Receiver SAP/SAB Services Ancillary to Programme making/Services Ancillary to Broadcasting SDR Software Defined Radio SON Self-Organising Network SR Space Research SRD Short Range Device SRS Space Radio Services TCO Total Cost of Ownership TDD Time Division Duplex TLM Telemetry TS Terminal Station TVWS TV White Spaces TX Transmitter UAS Unmanned Aircraft System UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UE User Equipment UHF Ultra High Frequency UL Uplink UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network VHF Very High Frequency VoIP Voice over IP WiMAX Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access WP5D Working Party 5D WRC World Radio Conference

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Notes

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Notes

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